This Week in Sex: HIV Tests, Cameras in Vibrators, and Porn Producers Threaten to Leave the Golden State

A porn producer with a large presence in San Francisco has threatened to move to Las Vegas if a condom law is passed. (Shutterstock)

This Week in Sex is a weekly summary of news and research related to sexual behavior, sexuality education, contraception, STIs, and more.

Too Few Teens Getting Tested for HIV

A new report based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance concludes that too few young people are getting tested for HIV. The report, which is scheduled to be presented on July 23 at the International AIDS Conference, found that only one in five sexually experienced U.S. teens has been tested for HIV. Researchers say this is especially concerning given that one in four new HIV infections in this country occur in young people between the ages of 13 and 24.

Laura Kann, chief of the CDC’s school-based surveillance branch, told HealthDay that these numbers are disturbing: “We have too many kids in this country at risk of HIV infection and we have not enough kids tested for HIV, and we need to do more.” She added that we don’t quite know why so few kids are getting tested but acknowledged that the modern perception of AIDS as a chronic but treatable disease may be part of the problem. “Young people today were not around in the early days of the epidemic and did not see the havoc that it wreaked. And there is just not the same emphasis in our society there was previously, so some amount of complacency is there,” she said.

The CDC recommends that teens and adults ages 13 to 64 get tested for HIV at least once in their lifetime as part of routine medical care. Those with risk factors should be tested more often.

Porn Company Threatens to Flee California in Advance of Condoms Bill

As RH Reality Check has been reporting for a number of years now, there is a battle raging in California over whether adult film stars should be required to wear condoms during filming to protect themselves, each other, and their off-screen partners from sexually transmitted infections and HIV. A local ordinance that passed in Los Angeles County has yet to be enforced but a proposed state law that has been unsuccessfully introduced many times has a better chance of passing than it ever has before. AB 1576, introduced by Assembly member Isadore Hall, has passed the full assembly and one of the two state senate committees to which it is was assigned, meaning that it is just two votes (by the appropriations committee and the full senate) away from passage.

Each time advocates for condoms in porn make progress, industry leaders threaten to take their business elsewhere. And this week one of the larger producers in the state showed its intention to follow through by spending time in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kink, which specializes in films on bondage and fetishism, has a large presence in San Francisco. In 2007, the company bought the National Guard Amory complex in the Mission District, which had been vacant since 1975 for $14.5 million. In 2012, the company bought the nearby Armory Club and turned a dive bar into an upscale night club. Despite these ties to San Francisco, the company’s CEO, Peter Acworth, has said he will move out-of-state if the law passes. He issued a statement saying that he and his staff were in Las Vegas this week where they shot two feature-length films and looked into the state’s permitting rules.

This seems like a warning shot sent out to senators: Pass the bill and risk losing jobs and tax revenue in your districts.

The Vagina Videos: New Vibrator Comes With Camera

We’re now used to cameras in our cellphones, but how about in our sex toys? A Chinese company has invented the first vibrator with a built-in camera and light so that you can get an up-close-and-personal view of your genitals, presumably during masturbation or perhaps partner play. The vibrator, called the Svakom Gaga, comes with a USB port. Plug it into your computer and watch your own larger than life vulva and vagina videos. If you’re feeling really adventurous or in the mood to share, your partner can download a wireless app to let him or her control the vibrator and video from afar.

Though super close-ups don’t sound all that appealing to those of us at “This Week in Sex,” the company suggests that watching leads to learning. According to the company, Gaga “shares the exclusive right of gynecologist with you. Not only making you a better understanding and attention of your lover, but also making much fun for you.”

Like with any other sex tape,we should remind you of rule #1: “It always ends up on the Internet.” That said, we’re guessing no one will be able to recognize you from this particular angle.

And they also threatened to leave if Obama was reelected, Papa John’s was going to close down if the ACA passed and Chuck Norris threatened to stop pretending to still be a badass.
I kind of doubt people who watch porn are wondering which side of the border the flick is made.